Prosecutor Jallow addresses UN Security Council

The Prosecutor of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT / Mechanism) and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Justice Hassan B. Jallow, today presented his latest bi-annual report on the work of the Mechanism and the ICTR to the United Nations Security Council.

The Prosecutor informed the Security Council that the ICTR has now reached a milestone after the conclusion of appeal oral hearings in the matter of the Prosecutor vs Nyiramasuhuko and five others. This is the last appeal and the last case of the ICTR and the oral hearing which took place in April 2015 is significant in bringing to a close a very important chapter in the life of the ICTR and the mandate of the Office of the Prosecutor. He thanked members of the Security Council, the member States, the Secretary General and the United Nations Secretariat for their strong support to the ICTR over the years which has enabled the ICTR to fulfil the request by the Security Council that all the cases at the ICTR be completed by end of 2015.

The Prosecutor stressed that member States must cooperate with the Mechanism in the tracking and arrest of the nine remaining fugitives, three of whom are to stand trial before the Mechanism, while the remaining cases have been referred to Rwanda. “The Mechanism Office of the Prosecutor remains fully committed to their arrest and trial” the Prosecutor emphasised.

The Prosecutor informed the Security Council that the Mechanism Office of the Prosecutor (MICT-OTP) in both Arusha and The Hague is now fully operational.

With regard to the OTP Arusha Branch, the Prosecutor reported that judgement in the Ngirabatware appeal case, the only MICT Arusha branch appeal case, was delivered on 18 December 2014 with his convictions for genocide affirmed by the Appeals Chamber. The OTP Arusha branch continues to make preparations for the arrest and trial of the three fugitives earmarked for trial by the Mechanism, namely: Felicien Kabuga, Protais Mpiranya and Augustin Bizimana. The OTP Arusha branch also continues to monitor the four cases transferred to Rwanda and France.

The OTP Hague Branch is also preparing for future appeals, the Prosecutor said. It continues also to work on a large number of requests for assistance from national jurisdictions, most notably from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.

“We will continue our policy of active engagement with the countries in the former Yugoslavia in order to strengthen the close collaboration that has so far yielded good results in the arrest and prosecution of persons responsible for crimes committed in their national territories,” said the Prosecutor.